In March this year Peter Hayward (1973) decided to build an East of England road-trip around the appearance of his brother Robert Hayward (1976) in the title role of Opera North’s production of ’The Flying Dutchman’ in the New Theatre, Hull. It was whilst studying a map of the Lincolnshire Wold following his stay in Boston that he noticed a reference to the Magdalen College Museum in Wainfleet, Lincolnshire. Like many Magdalenenses perhaps, he had no idea of the existence of this museum and he resolved to find out more. Following further research and a chat with his friend and fellow alumnus Keith Parker (1973), it was decided they would pay the Museum a visit in early August this year.
They write:
We both enjoy watching cricket so our Magdalen Museum pilgrimage first involved a very enjoyable day at the Trent Bridge ground at Nottingham. It was from there that we made our way to Wainfleet All Saints.
We had anticipated the Nottingham to Wainfleet train journey would be a slow, gentle and peaceful trip through the countryside. What we hadn’t realised is that the final stop on this journey was Skegness, to where a large number of Butlins holidaymakers were heading. Thus when we arrived at the station the train was already almost full. There was talk of having to wait an hour or more for the next train or even a dreaded “rail replacement” service. When we asked plaintively if there was any chance of getting on the current train, we were asked where we were going and, on answering, were waived through. However, our anticipated peaceful journey was anything but – there was a constant din from small children, regularly punctuated by even louder noise from parents and grandparents demanding their children make less noise. But finally we arrived in Wainfleet and following a pleasant lunch in one of the town’s pubs, we made the short walk to the Magdalen College Museum.
The Museum is housed in a 15th Century building, the pride of this small Lincolnshire town. It was built by William of Waynflete in 1484 as one of three schools for prospective Magdalen College students, the others being in Brackley, Northamptonshire and of course in Oxford where both Magdalen College Schools remain. The aim was to send seven scholars educated in Latin and Greek each year to Magdalen College from Wainfleet, the birthplace of William Patten, later known as William of Waynflete. This remained its role until the mid-eighteenth century. Thereafter the building took on many other guises including management by Skegness Grammar School, use as a WW2 base, and in post-war years it housed a local authority secondary modern school until the 1960s. It currently houses the Wainfleet Community Library on the ground floor and the Magdalen College Museum in the upper hall, which is open on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.
The original brick building is an imposing structure with large octagonal towers. It appears to be in very good order partly thanks to support from our College with the costs of restoration and repairs we were informed. The upper hall is a panelled vaulted space with attractive stone windows. It features a huge Victorian schoolmaster’s desk and charming fireplaces complete with Magdalen crests. Stone corbels shaped and painted as human heads support the timber roof. Whilst the display cases inevitably focus on the history of the various schools, together with local history and artefacts, there are some interesting photographs, prints and booklets about Magdalen College. Historical documents include the 1457 Wainfleet Charter complete with its seal, on loan from Magdalen. The friendly volunteer staff members are very proud of the Museum. They were most interested in knowing we were College alumni and they were happy to help with background information about the building and the local area.
We’d recommend a visit to Wainfleet All Saints for anyone with connections to Magdalen or its schools who wishes to learn more about an important aspect of our history. And travelling via the Skegness train is an interesting experience too!
https://www.wainfleet.info/magdalen-college-museum
By Peter Hayward (1973)
